Has anyone else paid juicy fines for being in the dark?

Fine no.1 Being a day late for my TB screening, 80 francs which was a fortune for me in 1981. Do people with permits still have to go through that? Alls i remember is having to travel a long way from Graubunden and standing in line bare chested with loads of other foreign girls in this barrack. Very intimidating and humiliating.

NO 2, 80 francs for being in England at a funeral when i should have got a dog licence, although i had proof i wasn't in the country.

Last but not least being stupidly unaware that i was supposed to register my move of about 6 miles within 14 days cant remember what it cost

So i learnt the hard way. I think things have become a little more friendly and informative in the last 25 years at least these days alot of info is provided in different languages. I would hope so anyway.
Oldhand

Hi Oldhand,

No, I for one didn't have to go through any TB screening. That just sounds horrible. At least they could've given you an appointment at a particular doctors but to make one stand in line .....

I'm sure I've had to pay something for ignorance .. just can't remember what now.

~ Nanda.

sounds like the complaint should be rephrased: "Ignorance is no excuse and gets you nowhere"

Though why you need a doglicence to go to a funeral confuses me

Errr about the dog license Lob, you aint seen me yet

you saying you look "ruff"?

SFr.80 for not registering my television with Billag within the requisite number of days.

How did they find out? You could just have claimed you got the set in the last xxx days...... That's what I did when I got collared. They have no way to prove that you got it earlier.


Gav

That is where the ignorance thing comes in...I didn't know any better. A guy showed up at more door, asked if i had a TV. I said 'why, yes i do'. He said 'oh, you have to pay tax on that...please fill this form out'. No warning that I was being a nonconformist tv tax avoider. Two months later I got a summons or pay CHF80 note. I just paid the cash...

worse would be when they ask "do you have a radio?" and you answer "no".

Then they ask you if you have a car......

TV TAX?

What tha...in Switzerland? This is the FIRST I've heard about it.

I open my door and answer in English, they leave quickly..

Even the Post delivery guy I speak English to (usually just a "hello cool a package") but they just say "Grüzti" and I sign and they get out as fast they can so as not to have to answer questions in English.

It's a great system...I recommend it if you want to avoid being asked questions..

www.billag.ch

I don't think they care what you speak...

Edit: The web site had lots of english pages last year, dunno where it's gone...

3 things to add:-

1. I was charged CHF 80 after failing the test to convert my current driving license to a swiss driver's licence. All the requisite dues for the appointments, test etc were paid in time. I am not sure it had anything to do with the ignorance factor(or maybe I am still ignorant about the whole thing). It was a green form the Rechtsdients at the Motorfahrzeugkontrolle declaring that I have no rights to drive in Switzerland. I know not what I should be doing with this enlightening form that any vesitiges of my driving rights have been taken away from me.
2. Just wondering how billag enforces the rule of having to legally pay to receive airwaves in the case that I only rent/hire a car with radio/stereo and the works from time to time but have no audio or video equipment otherwise. Does it mean people are exempt from paying this wireless tax but enjoy still freely this previlige by using rented equipment on both a long and short term basis?
3. I recently purchased a computer in CH which was bundles with a TV tuner although currently I have no cable or TV reception capabilities at my current apartment. Will I somehow get in trouble with Big Brother for failing to register with them in time. Does to help to be a good citizen and volunteer oneself? I don't mind doing so, but what if they say that I have not infomed them within the 'stipulated' time and still fine me?

Well we didn't register our tv either but they didn't come to the door. They just sent us the forms after a year or two in the mail. We filled it up and they just backdated the charges to what we put on the form (when we said we got it). But this was in Kanton Solothurn - maybe they didn't have enough inspectors there. So far, no one's come to our door. But a swiss colleague who refuses to pay this tv tax hasn't even got broadband access because it's apparently liable for the tv tax.


Well I imagine they'll be all doing the rounds now during the world-cup


~ Nanda.

If you have a shop/restaurant/waiting room, etc or any other business, and have TV/Radio/CDs on display, be very careful. The TV / Radio tax is much more expensive for businesses. Therefore they incur more frequent inspection than households.

It seems the SFr.80 is the magic number for fines...

Yup - there's my recent 'train ticket expired' one and quite a few 80CHF parking fines that I've had.

Strange, the only fine I ever got in Ireland was a speeding one once - yet in the time I've been here I've picked up dozens. Mostly for parking, one for not changing the drivers license and two on the trains. Never a speeding fine though... I must be the only person I know who's never been flashed by those pesky cameras.


Gav

A few years ago a household questionnaire was dropped into my mailbox. I dutifully filled it in (in German) and was rewarded with an Sfr 800 invoice for not having paid the radio licence for a number of years. Needless to say, that was the last questionnaire I ever filled in!

Talking of the radio, are all the radio stations in Zürich owned by the same company as they seem to have the same narrow play list. I will hear an old song on Radio 24 one day and the same song the next day on Energy. It happens too often to be coincidence.

I'd pay CHF800- if it meant I never heard Swiss radio again. Has to be the worst playlisting I have ever encountered. High rotation of Top40 and bad 80's music.

Yup, Swiss Radio is as boring as bat doodoo. I am so glad to be living in the Bodensee region. It means I pick up Austria's FM4, pretty much on par with Australia's JJJ for its music diversity (and unfortunately left wing political bias but thats a small price to pay). They have much of their broadcasting in English (the popular breakfast DJ is from the UK), including the hourly news.

My house only has an alarm clock. Now this has radio reception capabilities. I guess this still makes me liable?